Ange Postecoglou makes 'comfortably' claim after Nottingham Forest defeat to Sunderland
Nottingham Forest boss Ange Postecoglou has issued his verdict on the defeat to Sunderland at the City Ground
Ange Postecoglou said Omar Alderete's goal against Nottingham Forest shouldn't have stood but refused to blame the referee for his side's defeat.
Postecoglou said his side had not defended Granit Xhaka's free kick well enough, though he felt a foul should have been given against Arthur Masuaku. The Nottingham Forest boss also said that he didn't feel Nicolas Dominguez should have been penalised for the free kick which led to the goal, with the referee penalising him for simulation.
The Nottingham Forest boss said he felt his side still did more than enough to win the game, criticising their finishing as Sunderland held on to secure the three points.
“It was a whole range of decisions from the officials, from awarding and then some holding in the box," Postecoglou said.
"But I still think we were way too lax in our determination to keep the ball out of the net. I just thought it was a really disappointing goal to concede, particularly in a game where we were pretty much in control. It’s not a game where Matz Sels has made a lot of saves and kept them out. Frustrating. Disappointing. It’s another game we have allowed to get away from us, where really we should be very comfortably overcoming [the opposition].
"We controlled the game pretty well. It was a really poor goal we conceded, albeit after a poor decision, I thought, from the official. But it was a really poor goal and we had plenty of time to rectify that. We certainly created enough opportunities in the second half, and even in the first half. But at the moment, we’re not ruthless enough in terms of taking advantage of the dominance we have and turning it into wins rather than what’s happened in the last four or five games.”
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Régis Le Bris delivers his verdict on Sunderland win over Nottingham Forest
Régis Le Bris said his Sunderland side won’t be getting carried away despite their win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
Omar Alderete’s set-piece goal saw Sunderland taken their eleventh point of the campaign just six games in and while thrilled with the defensive resilience of his time, the head coach said there is still much to improve.
“We can't expect anything if we don't defend properly,” Le Bris said.
“Nottingham Forest are really good on the ball, many threats, many different profiles, wingers, strikers, midfielders, even the defenders are really good on the ball. So it was obvious coming here we had to defend really well, mid-block, low-block even a bit higher in the first half, we did well, not perfectly but enough to keep a clean sheet.
“The result is positive but when you look at the different phases and moments in the game we have many things to improve. We are at the level for some of the parts but for others it's pretty obvious we have to improve. For example, the way we build-up the play under pressure.. there's room for improvement.
“The most important thing is to have 11 points. When you can win points, do it because it's not easy. We can't become complacent. That's absolutely impossible. The lads are well connected with this idea. They are proud to win away but aware that we have to be better in many points in our game model.”
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